


Sunset Glow (Headphones)

by Toxiccoffeebean



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: M/M, Souyo Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 19:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18999004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toxiccoffeebean/pseuds/Toxiccoffeebean
Summary: For day 2 of Souyo Week: Confessions!A story to go with a picture that I drew and song that I wrote (sung and posted on my tumblr) for Souyo week!--------------------------------------------------------------------Yu looked down and clenched his fists. He was mentally preparing himself to put back on his mask, and go back to pretending everything was okay- But then he felt something wrap around the top of his head and clamp down on his ears, muffling all noises. It was Yosuke’s Headphones. He could hear a faint melody coming from them… Wait… Not from them...Yosuke was singing again, this time he was singing something entirely unique.





	Sunset Glow (Headphones)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of Afternoon Light. The story that I wrote for day one of Souyo week.  
> I could've put it as a chapter within it, but I wanted it to be seperate (sorry though)  
> Also sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes (I was running outta time) I'll fix em when I can

Yosuke blinked his eyes, once… twice...

The harsh orange light from the sun setting provided a warm blanket that wrapped around the front of his body.

 

“Where…?”

 

He took a moment to process where he was and found himself sitting upright on the big beige couch in Yu Narukami’s apartment… Or his parents, at least. 

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, taking in the warmth of the sun, listening to the sound and smell of something sizzling. When he opened his eyes, he aligned his focus up past the television screen and small divider wall, into the kitchen area. That’s where his Partner, was cooking up dinner for them.

 

_ ‘How long has it been’  _ Yosuke panicked briefly, brushing his parted dark orange fringe out of his face.  _ ‘What was I even doing?’  _

He took a moment to try and remember- and he did. The LMB festival and it’s little after party ended, everyone went back to the hotel aside Yosuke, who wanted to check out Yu’s (parent’s) place. And then he looked around and it was empty and sad looking. He recalled talking to Yu and the Yu got upset and then they crashed on the couch and-

 

_ ‘Oh, crap. I was singing again’  _ Yosuke gripped the cushion on his lap.  _ ‘And Yu fell asleep on me and it was really weird’  _ He scrunched his face up at the thought, face all hot and red.

 

“Oh, you’re awake Yosuke”

 

Yu’s voice cut through the somewhat pleasant silence, causing Yosuke to jump where he sat. As Hazel eyes met grey, Yosuke fumbled to form a sentence in response to his friend, (who was wearing an apron with a cat on it and holding up a pan full of cooked beef).

 

“Yeah- I am now. Man, you scared the crap out of me… H-Hey I was still waking up”

 

“You’re so jumpy all the time Yosuke, just like a frog”

 

Yu seemed happier, Yosuke could tell, even when Yu had little to no facial expression. Yosuke guessed that meant things were okay, that was until he heard Narukami sigh as he put down the food.

 

“Hey Yosuke, I’ve been thinking”

“Oh no” Yosuke muttered, worried that he did something wrong. “I’m sorry about the singing-”

 

“Well, no. Your singing is beautiful but… I was more thinking that I should actually take the time to open up to someone and talk”

 

“You think my singing… Is beautiful?” Yosuke blinked, confused. He felt a rush of blood pool into his face. “Uh, but- scrap the singing thing- You wanna talk?”

 

“Yeah… And I’m also kind of curious about this… But what do you _ know _ about me. What do you  _ think you know _ about me?” Yu didn’t even glance at Yosuke while asking the questions he did, but that might have been because he was way too preoccupied putting the flavoured beef over two bowls of rice.

 

“Those are some hard questions, dude. I guess, I don’t know… from what I gather you’re lonely… or something...” Yosuke clenched the pillow harder and averted his gaze from Yu and the food. As Narukami took his apron off and then proceeded to place two bowls on the table, Yosuke swore he saw Yu lift a brow.

 

“I mean, you’re not wrong” Yu said as he sat down. “Come get food. You must be pretty hungry”

Yosuke exhaled heavily as he lifted himself from the couch, tossing the blanket and cushion aside. He sat opposite from Narukami and glanced at what looked like a delicious beef bowl.

“Sorry if it’s a bit bland, I ran out of sauce. Should be enough… I think”

 

Yosuke smirked and picked up the sticks to the side. It looked good, it smelt good and it was made by Yu who was apparently perfect so there was clearly nothing wrong with it. Yosuke dug in, and though it was lacking in some flavour it was definitely still delicious. There was a gap of silence while they ate, but it passed pretty quickly.

 

“Hey...I always assumed you were perfect” Yosuke said, picking up the conversation from where it left “As you already know, I was super jealous because well- you made friends with ease and you never really had a shadow or anything. You excel at everything you do too. You’re awesome and you look super cool and I am really lucky to have you as a friend”

 

“I’m far from perfect. Trust me. There’s a lot that goes on in my head” Yu spoke softly, as he grabbed the empty bowls and walked over to the sink to start cleaning them. “Honestly, sometimes Yosuke- I’m jealous of you”

 

“Wha?!” Yosuke jumped up. He was not expecting that, at all. “You?! Jealous of the Junes Clown?! Hang on just a second! What on earth do I have that you don’t?”

 

Yu was firm with his words. “A family that you get to see almost everyday. Friends within walking distance. You’re pretty attractive too… And that voice… Yosuke, you can sing really, really well”

 

Yosuke laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. Though flattered it felt really weird to have the cool calm leader guy tell him all the nice things about him. “Alright, you’re just toying with me. I’m not  _ that attractive.  _ If I was I’d probably have a girlfriend by this point. And hey look I honestly don’t realise I’m singing half the time- You know, scrap the singing let’s just forget that ever happened it’s kinda embarrassing”

 

Yu dried his hands, as he went to put the recently clean bowls away.

“I think they say… what was it again? You have Disappointing good looks. It’s not that you’re not attractive, it’s that you say things that disappoint the people who show an interest in you”

 

“Yeah, yeah okay, salt in the wounds there” Yosuke grumbled. “Half of the time, I don’t even realise I’m blurting out all the crap I’m thinking -And that’s enough about me, let’s talk about you”

 

“Me?” Yu said, shuffling his way back to the couch, Yosuke joining him. “You really want to know? Even though it might dramatically change your opinion of me?”

 

“I’m confident enough in our friendship that I’m not going to think any differently of you” Yosuke said, flat out. It was almost as if it was said by an entirely different person. Yu widened his eyes at Yosuke before nodding.

 

“Alright… I guess I’ll remove my facade for once then” Narukami sighed, making a gesture with his hand, that made it seem like he was removing a mask from his face. He then proceeded to look down for a minute in silence.

 

Yosuke just blinked. He had no idea what was happening. He eventually leaned over and tilted his head so he could get a glance at Yu’s facial expression. He was ready to try and figure out what it was his Partner was thinking about- But as he got a glance, it turns out he didn’t need to play charades with him anymore. It was evident that his Partner,  _ his cool collected and calm partner _ , was biting his lip and tearing up. He looked pained.

 

“Oh…” was all Yosuke could say.  _ Oh indeed. _

 

“Yeah” Yu sniffled. “I suck”

 

“W-What?!” Yosuke, without even thinking wrapped his arms around Yu. “No you don’t! D-Dude! Oh man I knew you were holding back but I still wasn’t prepared for this”

 

“I miss everyone, Yosuke… And when you’re gone, I’m going to miss you too- More than you would ever know. I’m going to go back to being alone again… I don’t want my shadow to return”

Yosuke gasped for a second. Yu had a shadow? Since when? Did he face it alone?

 

“Your Shadow… You had one huh?” Yosuke whispered croakily. “I’m sorry, it must have been difficult”

 

“I messed up. I was so afraid of being isolated again, I lost sight of the truth. When I did, all these voices went off in my head, cackling and laughing… It was like all the personas that I had turned against me… But the moment I saw him, my shadow… me… I knew what I had to do. Facing my Shadow wasn’t the hard part. It was realising what path I took that lead him to his existence… And I feel like I’m about to go down the same road… This time, I don’t know if I’ll be able to face him so easily”

 

“Yu” Yosuke hushed, squeezing his grip around his buddy, “He’s not going to come back again. I won’t let that happen”

 

“I can hear them, Yosuke. The laughter. The voices telling me I’m going to be alone...”

 

It was in that instant, the wind outside picked up, purple clouds floated by quickly, blotting out the sunset light for a moment. The wind chimes dangled furiously, playing a strangely haunting and jumbled song. As the tangled melody played, Yosuke fought with his own voices in his head.

 

_ ‘Why am I holding him like this? This is really weird’ _

_ ‘He needs me. He is hurting and this is letting him know I’m here for him’ _

_ ‘There are countless other ways to let him know that you’re here, so why are you hugging him dammit?’ _

 

“Because I love him”

 

Yu looked up at Yosuke with his watery eyes. He heard that right, right?

 

“Yosuke?”

 

“Hmm?” Yosuke blinked a few times, bringing himself back down to earth. “Did I say something?”

 

“You love him?” Yu sounded a lot softer and higher pitched than usual. Yosuke noticed a tinge of pink in his friends face, but figured it might just be because he holding back tears. “Who’s him?”

 

“Who- love- him- what?” Yosuke panicked. He’s sure he screwed up big time…  _ ‘Dammit what did I say!?’  _ Yosuke released himself from the hug awkwardly. “I don’t...”

 

“It’s fine Yosuke. I guess I should just put back on my facade and we can watch a movie instead or something”. Yu felt all the warmth and energy move away from him, as Yosuke freed him from his grip.

_ ‘You shouldn’t have cried. Now Yosuke is going to leave you and you’re going to be alone again’ _

Yu looked down and clenched his fists. He was mentally preparing himself to put back on his mask, and go back to pretending everything was okay- But then he felt something wrap around the top of his head and clamp down on his ears, muffling all noises. It was Yosuke’s Headphones. He could hear a faint melody coming from them… Wait… Not from them...

 

Yosuke was singing again, this time he was singing something entirely unique.

 

_ ~ “I can hear the wind whispering…  _ _  
_ _ memories come creeping back when you seem stressed… _

_ Of you being there when I needed you… And comforting me when I’m crying too _ _  
_ _ Partner, I think it’s time that I confess...” _

 

Yu looked Yosuke right into his eyes, almost entranced by his voice. Though muffled, he could understand the emotions and lyrics perfectly.    
The sky got darker and darker and the wind picked up, becoming louder and louder drowning out the next lyrics to the song... yet still Yu knew exactly what they were…

 

_ ~ “I love you”~ _

 

Yosuke smiled, though it seemed like his eyes had glistened over, as if he was possessed by something.

 

_ ~ “You can hear the wind whispering… _ __  
_ The voices in your head telling you that you’re alone… _ __  
_ You always said that it’s the truth that you seek- Well please listen to these words I speak _ _  
_ __ When you need me, just pick up the phone” ~

 

Yu felt something running down his face. Tears. What had Yosuke done to him? What is this dark magic? He tried so hard to hold them back all this time, and here he was crying to his singing partner.

 

_ ~”And when you’re feeling down, you know I’ll come around…  _ _  
_ _ When distance is the great divide, you know I’ll be here by your side” _

 

“Yosuke” Yu whispered wiping away the tears with his arms “How are you...”

 

_ “You can wear my headphones…  _ They’ll drown out the voice” Yosuke hushed, as his melody turned back into his regular croaky tone. 

 

“Your… headphones?” Yu said, reaching and feeling them. “W-what just happened? I felt like I was being hypnotized”

 

Yosuke chuckled “Whoops, guess my facade fell too- well It’s getting dark, partner- Let’s try and figure out how we’re going to sleep tonight and play games until we can’t anymore, eh?”

 

“Hang on” Yu said, pulling himself together. “Yosuke, were you just singing that song because it was fitting, or did you make that up yourself”

 

Yosuke awkwardly laughed before sighing “I may have… made that up on the spot…”

 

Yu made a gesture that read loud and clearly as ‘what the hell’-

“You’re telling me that you just confessed your love to me in a song you made up on the spot”

 

“Woah-woah-woah~! Confess my love to you?! Haha, I just adding that in because it worked well there! Let’s not jump to conclusions!”

 

“That’s a shame” Yu huffed before he chuckled, cleaning the rest of the tears off his face with his fingers. 

 

“A shame?! Huh?” The Orange haired boy stood up and offered a hand to his friend. “Why?” Don’t tell me you got swept away by my beautiful voice!” Yosuke laughed, but couldn’t help but feel a lot of anxiety for some reason.

 

“You’re like a siren, you know. If you sung to a girl like that they’d probably want to make out with you then and there. Heck I would.”

 

“Partner… Are you saying that  _ you  _ want to make out with  _ me.”  _ There was another silence. There seemed to be a lot of those. “So, I’m not hearing a  _ no…” _

 

“So futons!” Yu cried, as he started power walking down the corridor.

 

As Yosuke watched the grey haired boy march away, and thought about everything that just happened. He sung to Narukami, out of nowhere. He lost control again, yet this time he wasn’t zoning out. He heard, felt and saw everything. He  _ confessed  _ to Yu, yet he wasn’t sure he was ready to do that. What was happening to him? As he heard the wind chimes outside ding once more, he let out a confused smile, softly patted his lips in a curious thought and then sung under his breath one last time.

 

_ “- you can wear my headphones...” _

**Author's Note:**

> P.S. Here are the lyrics to the full song, Headphones:
> 
> I can hear the wind whispering  
> memories come creeping back when you seem stressed  
> Of you being there when I needed you  
> And comforting me when I'm crying too  
> Partner I think it's time that I confess
> 
> I love you  
> I love you
> 
> You can hear the wind whispering  
> The voices in your head telling you that you're alone  
> You always said that it's the truth you seek  
> Well please listen to these words I speak  
> When you need me, just pick up the phone
> 
> (I love you)  
> And when you feeling down  
> (I love you)  
> You know I'll come around  
> When distance is the great divide  
> You know that I'll be here by your side
> 
> You can wear my headphones  
> they'll drown out the voice  
> You can wear my headphones  
> to cancel the noise
> 
> If the mask you wear is crumbling  
> It's alright, I promise won't judge  
> I've said some dumb things way back then  
> But I promise I am a changed man  
> Cause I know now that you're the one I love
> 
> (I love you)  
> And when it gets too much  
> (I love you)  
> You know I'll be in touch  
> And if you feel the sadness overflow  
> I'll be there to help with your shadow
> 
> And you can wear my headphones...


End file.
